Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.

The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don't you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman's noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn't be simpler. One beam horizontal-the other vertical. One reaches out-like God's love. The other reaches up-as does God's holiness. One represents the width of His love; the other reflects the height of His holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave His children without lowering His standards. How could He do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on His Son and punished it there. "God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God" (2 Corinthians 5:21 MSG). Or as rendered elsewhere: "Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God" (CEV). Envision the moment. God on His throne. You on the earth. And between you and God, suspended between you and heaven, is Christ on His cross. Your sins have been placed on Jesus. God, who punishes sin, releases His rightful wrath on your mistakes. Jesus receives the blow. Since Christ is between you and God, you don't. The sin is punished, but you are safe-safe in the shadow of the cross. This is what God did, but why, why would He do it? Moral duty? Heavenly obligation? Paternal requirement? No. God is required to do nothing. Besides, consider what He did. Just for you He gave His Son. His only Son. Would you do that? Would you offer the life of your child for someone else? I wouldn't. There are those for whom I would give my life. But ask me to make a list of those for whom I would kill my daughter? The sheet will be blank. I don't need a pencil. The list has no names. But God's list contains the name of every person who ever lived. For this is the scope of His love. And this is the reason for the cross. He loves the world. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16 NLT). As boldly as the center beam proclaims God's holiness, the crossbeam declares His love. And, oh, how wide His love reaches. Aren't you glad the verse does not read: "For God so loved the rich..."? Or, "For God so loved the famous..."? Or, "For God so loved the thin..."? It doesn't. Nor does it state, "For God so loved the Europeans or Africans..." "the sober or successful..." "the young or the old..." No, when we read John 3:16, we simply (and happily) read, "For God so loved the world." How wide is God's love? Wide enough for the whole world. Are you included in the world? Then you are included in God's love. God's love is just for you. It's nice to be included. You aren't always. Universities exclude you if you aren't smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren't qualified enough, and, sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren't good enough. But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched one hand to the right and the other to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you. But isn't there a limit? Surely there has to be an end to this love. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit bottom. But when it came to God's love, they never did. They, like you, found their names on God's list of love. Because God loves you, He has invited you to enjoy eternal life with Him in Heaven. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NIV). Jesus made a way to accept God's invitation, and He did it just for you. Accept God's invitation by believing that Jesus received the punishment for your sin by His death on the cross. Confess that you've sinned and ask His forgiveness. Invite Him into your life and ask for God's help to turn from your sin. You can pray something like this: Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. Thank You for sending Jesus to suffer the punishment deserved for my sin. Please come into my life and help me live a life that pleases You. Amen. If you have just accepted God's invitation to you, write your name below as a testimony of your decision. Then write to us and we'll send you free literature to help you grow in your new life with Christ. Excerpted from He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart by Max Lucado. (c)2000 Max Lucado. Used by permission of Word Publishing, Nashville, TN.

This new commentary -- part of Eerdmans's acclaimed NICNT series -- gives primary attention to John's gospel in its present form rather than the sources or traditions behind it. J. Ramsey Michaels assumes that the John who authored the book is someone very close to Jesus and, therefore, that the gospel is a testimony to events that actually happened in the life of Jesus. Yet Michaels does not ignore the literary character of the gospel of John or its theological contribution to the larger Christian community from its own time to the present day. Through a detailed verse-by-verse commentary, Michaels reveals how the gospel of -the disciple whom Jesus loved- is a unified composition, intertwined with the synoptics, yet drawing on material none of them cover.

Magnificent insight into the miracles surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. Why was there a tremendous earthquake? What was the meaning of the three hours of thick darkness? Why was the temple veil torn in two? Why did graves open, and corpses come to life, and Christ's graveclothes remain undisturbed following His resurrection? Dan Schaeffer has skillfully updated William Nicholson's 1927 classic for today's seeking audience.

This is a new critical edition, with translation and commentary, of the Scholia in Apocalypsin, which were falsely attributed to Origen a century ago. They include extensive sections from Didymus the Blind's lost Commentary on the Apocalypse (fourth century) and therefore counter the current belief that Oecumenius' commentary (sixth century) was the most ancient. Professor Tzamalikos argues that their author was in fact Cassian the Sabaite, an erudite monk and abbot at the monastery of Sabas, the Great Laura, in Palestine. He was different from the alleged Latin author John Cassian, placed a century or so before the real Cassian. The Scholia attest to the tension between the imperial Christian orthodoxy of the sixth century and certain monastic circles, who drew freely on Hellenic ideas and on alleged 'heretics'. They show that, during that period, Hellenism was a vigorous force inspiring not only pagan intellectuals, but also influential Christian quarters.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction-covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography-a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation-the author's own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes-the author's notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting-a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment-verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation-brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography-occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Designed to accompany "Teaching Romans volume 1" and " volume 2," this book will help you to understand the message of Romans. The sheer scale and depth of Romans make it challenging to teach, but Christopher Ash leads us step by step through understanding and communicating this challenging and life-changing book.